Sunday, August 7, 2011

53

70

FINAL

Storm-Dream Preview

By MATT BECKERPosted Aug 06 2011 6:20PM

The Seattle Storm swept the Atlanta Dream in last season's WNBA finals, but each game went down to the wire. It is entirely possible that without the efforts of finals MVP Lauren Jackson, the Dream could have been the ones lifting the championship trophy last September.

Atlanta will now get the opportunity to see how it fares against the Storm without the seven-time All-Star patrolling the paint Sunday in the first meeting between these teams since last year's finals.

Seattle (12-8) won its second title last season by winning the three finals games over the Dream by a combined eight points. Jackson carried the Storm over Atlanta, averaging 22.3 points and 8.0 rebounds to become the fourth player in WNBA history to win both the finals MVP and regular-season MVP in the same year.

Even with the 6-foot-5 Jackson in the post, the Dream still outrebounded Seattle in two of the games. Atlanta is near the top of the league in rebounding this year at 36.7 per game, and hopes to take advantage of a Storm team ranked close to the bottom of the league in rebounding at 32.0.

One of the big reasons Seattle is struggling to control the glass is Jackson has been sidelined since June 21 with a hip injury. The team is hopeful she'll be healthy enough for another championship run.

Sue Bird is leading the Storm during Jackson's absence, and she hit a 3-pointer with 0.4 seconds left to lift Seattle to an 81-79 win over Connecticut on Friday. Bird finished with 20 points - her seventh 20-point game of the season - to help the Storm win a season-best third straight game and fifth in six overall.

"I've seen her make that shot a number of times,'' Swin Cash said. "In Sue Bird we trust. She's proven herself over and over again. When she puts that shot up, it's going in.''

Like Seattle, Atlanta has also dealt with an injury to its best player.

The Dream (8-11) got off to a sluggish start to the season, losing seven of their first nine games, as Angel McCoughtry was slowed by a left knee injury suffered in training camp.

McCoughtry seems to have overcome that injury, but coach Marynell Meadors has decided to have her come off the bench in Atlanta's last two games - both losses. The Dream had won their previous five.

McCoughtry, who was named the Eastern Conference player of the month for July, had a team-high 24 points in Tuesday's 85-75 loss to New York, and is averaging 29.8 points in her last four contests.

Despite McCoughtry's strong offensive showing, the Dream were outrebounded by the Liberty 36-29.

"If we rebound, it fits right into our game so we can push it and run,'' Meadors said

Copyright 2011 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited

Storm 53, Dream 70

By GEORGE HENRYPosted Aug 07 2011 7:01PM

ATLANTA (AP) Now that she's reclaimed a starting job, Sancho Lyttle is ready to give the Atlanta Dream a big boost with 14 games left in the regular season.

``It feels good,'' Lyttle said. ``I was told yesterday I was going to start, so I knew I just wanted to come out with full energy.''

Angel McCoughtry scored 17 points, Erika de Souza added 13 and the Dream snapped a two-game losing streak with a 70-53 victory over the Seattle Storm on Sunday.

Lyttle, who missed six games this season while playing Spain's national team and another six to recover from a back injury, had six points and seven rebounds.

Atlanta coach Marynell Meadors, however, values her for more than numbers. Lyttle's 6-foot-4, 193-pound frame - a big reason the Dream won the Eastern Conference last year - gives the Atlanta front line a physical presence it lacked during her absence.

``Sancho is always talking to her teammates and making sure everyone is in their right place,'' Meadors said. ``If they are not in the right place, she will make sure to cover for them. Sancho is just a great team player and a great player to have.''

In a rematch of last year's WNBA finals, the defending champion Storm committed 29 turnovers, tying the league's single-game high this season. Swin Cash scored 16 points and reserve guard Katie Smith had 11 for Seattle, which ended a three-game winning streak.

Dream starting guard Armintie Price was carried off the court after twisting her left ankle late in the second quarter. She finished with eight points, four assists and three steals in 16 minutes.

X-ray results of Price's ankle were negative, and she's listed as day-to-day. Meadors was pleased that the loss of Price didn't adversely affect the Dream's transition game. It also helped that Meadors reinserted McCoughtry, the WNBA's second-leading scorer, into the starting lineup. She came off the bench during the loss at Connecticut and a home loss to New York.

``We led from start to finish, and the most we led was by 21 points,'' Meadors said. ``It was a great team win because everyone made valuable contributions. Seattle fought hard, but we just outfought them.''

Cash and Sue Bird combined for 12 turnovers and five assists for the Storm, who were outscored 20-2 in second-chance points.

``We had 16 turnovers in the first half, 10 of those in the first quarter,'' Seattle coach Brian Agler said. ``We are not a team that can overcome stuff like that. We have to be efficient with the basketball.''

The Storm have been without All-Star center Lauren Jackson, who's recovering from hip surgery, since June 21. She might not return until next month, but Bird doesn't want the Storm's concentration to lapse and fall into a low playoff seed.

``Atlanta is a very athletic team,'' Bird said. ``Early on, they were turning us over and turning that into points. Every time we cut the lead, they would make another run. They were pretty much in control of the game, and we never got into it.''

McCoughtry set the tone for Atlanta's dominant second half by hitting an 8-foot runner on the first possession of the third quarter. The Dream took their first 20-pont lead on Courtney Paris' 7-foot jumper six minutes later.

``Our goal was to be the ones to punch first, leaving them to play catch-up, and that is what we ended up doing,'' Atlanta guard Lindsey Harding said. ``We just need to continue to play this way.''

Seattle, which will visit New York on Tuesday, dropped to 4-8 on the road this season.

``We've gotten better on the road recently, but we didn't play really well tonight,'' Agler said. ``Atlanta had time to prepare. I think they had four or five days to practice, and they were hungry. They see their playoff hopes in limbo so they played with a lot more urgency than we did.''

Lyttle just hopes the Dream, who begin a four-game road trip Tuesday in Washington, maintain their pace.

``We had a lot of assists, which we normally don't have, and we had a lot of fastbreak points,'' Lyttle said. ``We played defense very well tonight. I just hope we can continue to do this for the next few games.''

Copyright 2011 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited